It seems no one can help me now
I’m in too deep
There’s no way out
This time I have really led myself astray
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I’m neither here nor there
– Runaway Train, Soul Asylum

---

Monday, March 8, 2004

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Cruz shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth. “I’m glad Dante’s working here,” he told Lulu. “Ever since he moved out, I’ve had to cook for myself.”

Lulu rolled her eyes and grumbled something unflattering about men before heading over to refill coffee cups.

Kelsey sat down next to Cruz and set down a case folder. He frowned at her, then wiped his hands on a napkin. “What’s this?”

“I took your advice. I went to see Scott, and he was so weird about it that I dug up my dad’s file.”

Cruz lifted his brows but then flipped through the folder. His eyes widened. “Holy shit, Kelsey—”

“My dad was murdered.” Kelsey’s voice wavered slightly, and she swallowed hard. “And the PCPD wrote it off as an accidental death.”

“What’s going on?” Lu wanted to know as she returned to toss some new orders in for Dante. “You okay, Kelse? Where’s Lucky?”

“At the doctor,” she said absently. “You know how I said my dad died in a car accident?”

“Yeah. My parents knew him, right? Mom back in the day, and Dad later, I think they said.” Lu tipped her head. “Is that the file? Was it a drunk driver or something?”

“Or something,” Cruz muttered. He skimmed the investigative report. “This doesn’t make any sense. How the hell did they get away with this?”

“What’s going on?” Lu asked again. “Cruz?”

Cruz pushed his breakfast plate aside and flattened the file out. Lu’s eyes bulged at the sight of the crime scene photos. “He was found at the Port Charles exit on Highway 41,” he said. “Passenger side open — the door was dusted for prints—” he showed the notation to Kelsey. “But there’s no follow up. What happened to those prints? Were they able to lift any? Did they run them?”

Lu’s face was green as she picked up the crime scene photo. “Someone shot him from the passenger side,” she murmured. “And look at how the car was left— that’s not an accident.”

“No, no front end damage,” Cruz confirmed. “The emergency brake was on, and the car was in neutral. I’ve been on the job for less than a year, and I can tell you what happened. Your dad was driving,” he told Kelsey, “and someone was with him. They pulled over just by the exit ramp, then the person shot your dad. Bullet wound like this? He’s dead in seconds—” he winced. “Sorry, Kelse—”

“It’s okay.” Her face was pale, but Kelsey took a deep breath. “It’s okay. I know. I’ve seen cases like this.”

“Someone put the car in neutral, and the car drifted down towards the sign, but not at a high speed.” Cruz squinted at the report. “That highway is busy — even at 3 am—”

“Not when I was a kid,” Lu murmured. “Mom used to say how much the city grew after they moved back. The Qs redeveloped the hotel, and a bunch of new businesses moved in. Downtown built up, and traffic got worse, she said. I mean, you’d have to ask someone who was old enough to remember, but I bet that exit was almost deserted at that time of night, especially on a—” She tapped the date. “Wednesday night. Middle of the week. We didn’t have a nightlife. We still barely have one. We mostly head into Rochester for that kind of thing.”

“That’s kind of how I remember Port Charles as a kid, but—” Kelsey cleared her throat. “The PCPD deciding that my dad’s murder was an accident explains why my mom got out and stayed out. She was scared because they covered it up.”

“But how?” Lu demanded. “People had to know—”

“Who, though? Crime scene techs don’t follow up on cases. They file their reports and move on. The investigating officer gets the autopsy report, sure, but the medical examiner doesn’t follow up. It’s not their job.” After a year of watching the PCPD work, Kelsey knew what had happened. “No, it’s not that hard. The guy on the case said it was an accident and filed it that way. And my mom didn’t fight.”

“And the commissioner doesn’t always follow up, either. They’re juggling too many balls—” Cruz looked over the report again. “This guy — David Case. He doesn’t work at the PCPD anymore—”

“I looked him up. He was on year eighteen in 1994 and retired in 1997.” Kelsey took something from her bag. “He mostly worked Major Crimes before the 90s and was here with Anna and Robert during their first run. Then under Sean Donely and Mac. In 1994, Mac formed the Organized Crimes unit after Sonny Corinthos went after Frank Smith.”

“Yeah, things were really bad,” Lulu said. “Guys broke into our house looking for my dad, and my mom fought them off with a rifle. Lucky got shot, too.”

“Case transferred to that unit and finished his career. He died last year. Lung cancer.”

“You know, the PCPD did a lot of bad things, but I don’t think I’ve come across an actual cover-up like this,” Cruz said. “Even what happened with Elizabeth’s case back in the day—”

“No, this was more deliberate,” she said to Lu.  “And I gotta wonder—your dad said that my dad worked for Frank Smith.”

“Really?” Cruz asked as Lu’s eyes widened. “When? Where?”

“He swears Dad was on the legit side of the business, but Dad died June 1994. Wasn’t that the same time all this stuff was blowing up with Frank Smith?”

“Yeah. Uh—” Lu cleared her throat. “Lucky would know better. Have you told him yet?”

“I—” Kelsey pressed her lips together. “Not yet. He’s just back on his feet, and after everything that happened with Dante and Capelli, I guess…” She sighed, met Cruz’s eyes. “It’s another PCPD scandal. Another cover up. How many more of these hits can we take? How many more can he absorb? His mother, Elizabeth, the shooting, and now this—”

“It’s your dad, Kelse,” Lulu pointed out. “And you told us.”

“I know I have to tell him. I just hoped if I showed it to you,” Kelsey told Cruz, “that you’d see something that I missed. Something that explains it.”

“There’s nothing that explains this.”

“Yeah.” She stared at the folder. “What if my mom is right be worried? What if I drag all of this up, and it’s actually dangerous?”

“The PCPD has mostly turned over,” Cruz pointed out. “And the only mob guys still around are Sonny’s guys — who are Jason’s guys now. Do you really think they’re going to go after your mom? When she’s stayed quiet all this time?”

“I’m not sure if it’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Kelsey said.

“Talk it over with Lucky,” Lulu suggested. “He knows a lot of those players better than either of us. He grew up in it.”

General Hospital: Elizabeth’s Room

“Good morning,” Jason said. He leaned over to brush his mouth against hers. “You finally got some rest last night. Every time I checked, you were sleeping.”

“I did. I’m still sore—” She lightly touched her chest— “but the embolization wasn’t invasive, so I only have the c-section to recover from.” She frowned at him. “You’re sleeping, aren’t you? Have you gone home?”

“A few hours here and there.” Jason hesitated, dipped his head. “There’s something else we need to talk about. I didn’t want to bring it up around Carly yesterday.”

“What?”

When Jason didn’t answer her, Elizabeth’s heartbeat picked up. “Jason. What’s wrong?”

“The reason Sonny was so angry on Friday—he got a message that Ric was in New York.” He paused. “This time, though, they didn’t bother giving us the same message. They only sent it to Sonny. It came from the Zaccharas.”

“Which means you were right. They know he’s unstable.” She tried to catch his eye, but his gaze was still averted, looking down at the bed. “How did they find out?”

“Someone told them,” Jason said after a long moment. He finally raised his eyes to hers. “Someone told Anthony and Trevor that they could screw everything up here by making Sonny go over the edge.” When she said nothing, Jason continued, “Elizabeth—Cody fed them the information.”

“Cody—” Her breath seized. “Not—not my Cody—no—” She jerked her hands out of his. “No. You’re wrong. You have to be wrong.”

“He confessed to Justus, but I already—I already had my suspicions. There weren’t many people who knew Sonny was getting out of jail that day,” Jason told her as a tear slid down her cheek. “You, me. Carly, Bobbie, Lucas. Some of my guys—including Bernie and Justus. But Cody knew. You and I talked about it in front of him the night before.”

“He wouldn’t—”

“He would.” Jason picked up her hands again. “He did it to force Sonny out. He thought—he thought if Sonny flipped out—I would take over. Anthony and Trevor didn’t know I was already running things, and Cody took advantage of that.”

“I don’t understand—”

“He did it for you,” Jason admitted. “Because he was afraid that eventually Sonny’s anger would turn violent again and that you’d be in the middle of it, like that night in December. I told him to protect you, and that’s what he thought he was doing.”

“I—” Elizabeth couldn’t quite process that. “I don’t—you sound like—I mean, he betrayed you.”

“When Justus told me he knew who it was—why they did it, it felt like a betrayal. It was a betrayal,” he corrected. “He didn’t think I’d step up to fix things without being forced.” He paused. “He was right.”

She swallowed hard. “You were planning to fix things—you had a plan—”

“That no one else knew,” he reminded her. “And that I postponed after we got word about the house arrest.”

“Jason—”

“I could have done more. I should have done more.” Jason paused. “Cody did what he did to protect you and even Carly. He went against Sonny to do it. There were consequences he didn’t see—”

He closed his eyes. “It was the same thing I did months ago.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “What—when? What are you talking about?”

“I promised you—and Carly—that Ric would go to trial. Even when he jumped bail,” Jason said slowly, “I wanted to keep that promise. I told Ned that I would keep him informed about what we knew.”

“Jason…”

“I worked with the PCPD—not directly,” Jason added, “—but I knew who Ned was passing my information to. It wasn’t a lot—but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have done more, including undermining anything Sonny did once Ric was found. I would have turned him over. You and Carly made it clear that going to trial—testifying—that was how you were going to put this behind you.”

He met her eyes. “And I promised you I would make it happen.”

“Jason.” To know he’d worked with the cops, that he’d done something like that behind Sonny’s back at the same time Sonny had been going over the edge about all of this—she didn’t have the words— “You did that for us.”

“At the end of the day, what happened last summer—it happened to you. It happened to Carly. I don’t care if the rest of the world thinks it makes me weak,” he told her, “I needed you to be okay. Killing him quickly—it isn’t doing that. Carly’s not okay. I can see you’re not either. You wanted justice. Closure. And I want you both to be able to sleep at night.”

He waited a moment before continuing. “When I assigned Cody to look after you—” He met her eyes. “I told him that nothing came before you. That you were the most important person in my life. And I was putting your safety in his hands.”

“You told him that?”

Jason exhaled slowly. “He kept his promise. He didn’t do it the right way, and he broke the rules to do it. But I’m not sure he was wrong.”

“I—” Her throat was thick, and she couldn’t form any words. “Jason.”

He brought her hands to his lips, kissed them gently. “I’ll talk to him. And if you’re not comfortable anymore, I’ll reassign him. But it’s up to you.”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Thank you. For—for even giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

“I’m just—I’m sorry it came to this. To any of this. I’m sorry you’re not going to get your day in court,” he said. “Or that—with everything else going on—I can’t go back to the way it was. With the business.”

“No. You can’t.” She smiled at him. “But we’ll deal with whatever happens. That’s the promise I made you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Sunday, March 7, 2004

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Dante hesitated as he emerged from the kitchen, a towel over his shoulder, looked first at Lois sitting at the counter, then at Lulu, his eyebrows raised. “My aunt better not be the emergency.”

“Did I use the word emergency?” Lulu’s smile was dazzling. “My mistake. I have tables!”

“One of these days,” he muttered as she flitted away. He sighed, then went over to Lois. “If you’re here to talk about the job or my mother—”

“Neither.” Lois flipped over her cup. “I’m here to support you.”

Dante squinted. “What’s the catch?”

“Your mother is worried about you, and I’m not going to pretend I’m not either,” she told him. “But at the end of the day, you’re an adult. You’re not doing anything crazy, and you’re working. I just wanted to let you know that I’m working on Liv giving you some space, and I hope that you get what you need by doing this.”

Dante rubbed the back of his neck. “I wasn’t expecting that from you.”

“I know. But this is what me and your mom have always done, you know. I mediated for you and your ma, and she stepped with me and Brooke.” Pain flashed in his aunt’s eyes. “I can’t—she can’t help me anymore, but that doesn’t mean I stop doing my part. I’ve loved you since you were a little boy. Brooke was always a little bit Liv’s, and you were always a little bit mine.”

“I know. I never got away with anything with you around—”

“I know that finding out about Sonny, then the world finding out—it’s rocked things. And right after everything that went down with Vinnie—and all the trouble Sonny’s in, you got betrayed by another officer. It’s got you doubting yourself and what you’re meant to do.” She paused. “I hope you don’t believe what Capelli called you. You’re no a traitor. You’re nothing like Vinnie or Sonny.”

“I know—I know that I’m not either of them. That it’s not like that with blood and genes, but—” Dante sighed. “I keep thinking I never saw it coming with Vinnie. Did you with Sonny?”

“The way it’s been in the papers? The things we’ve heard? No. Sonny always had a brood to him, and he grew up real rough, Dante. He was a good guy once. Even though I flayed him for throwing over your ma for Connie.” Lois paused. “But his problems aren’t like Vinnie’s. There’s darkness in Sonny, but there was also kindness. Always good in there. He wasn’t always given the opportunity to show it. He was Brooke’s godfather, you know.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know that.”

“I never would’ve asked him to stand over my baby in front of God if I’d thought there was something wrong with him. Maybe we didn’t know Vinnie was a monster, Dante, but we always knew he wasn’t a shining example, you know?”

Dante pressed his lips together. “Yeah, I used to say he was the least favorite son of my ma’s least favorite sister. And that was putting it mildly. Grandma said I was jealous of him, that’s why I did it, but I never was. Nothing to be jealous of. Even before we knew.”

“Vinnie was always a good-for-nothing, lazy piece of shit. You saw the way he did the job. You saw how he was growing up. It cut me deep to know a boy whose diapers I changed did that to my baby, but maybe the reason we all feel so bad about it is—” Lois sighed, “is because it wasn’t that much of a surprise.”

“Maybe. I just—how do I live with all of this?” he wanted to know. “Vinnie on one side, Sonny on the other. How can I feel anything but cursed?”

“I know, baby. And I don’t know if I can talk you out of feeling that way. Maybe you just gotta live with yourself for a while with all of this.” Lois paused. “But the day is gonna come, Dante, when you can breathe again. Just make sure you don’t burn any bridges you can’t rebuild.”

Dante opened his mouth, but then Lulu came back behind the counter. “Hey, sorry, but we’re gonna get backed up in a minute, and—”

“It’s fine. I’ll see you around, Aunt Lo. Thanks for coming by.”

ELQ: Conference Room

Ned scribbled his name at the bottom of a contract, then slid it over to AJ. “It’ll be a relief to be out of this,” he admitted. “After you take control in June, I won’t have anything to do with ELQ for the rest of my term.”

“Says something about how bad Floyd was if the town still voted in someone from ELQ,” AJ said dryly as he handed the completed contract to the legal team. The lawyers filed out of the room. “I thought they hated us—”

“With everything the PCPD and the mayor got dragged for last year, there was a time Jason was more popular than the cops,” Ned said. He got to his feet. “During the election, Alexis dropped a poll just to see what would happen, and Sonny got more votes than Floyd.” He snorted. “When she gave us those results, I knew I was going to win.”

“I sure as hell hope that’s changed now,” AJ said darkly.

“This is the first time Sonny’s been back in the news in a while,” Ned assured him. “And most of what’s happened wasn’t even known.” He saw AJ glancing at his phone. “They find out today about the 5150, don’t they?”

“Yeah.” AJ exhaled. “I’m trying not to let that be something I worry about, but if they release him, Carly will definitely go forward. If they hold him—” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You think she’ll change her mind because Sonny will be getting treatment?”

“Maybe.” AJ jerked a shoulder. “I told Bobbie I’d let Carly deal with it and wait to hear, but it’s hard. I’m so close to everything I wanted, and thinking it rests on Sonny Corinthos—” He looked at Ned. “I’m sorry. For not coming home last summer.”

Ned frowned. “We talked about this, AJ. It’s all right—”

“I wanted to. I talked to my sponsor, and we both thought I could handle it, but I just—” AJ crossed the room to the windows overlooking downtown Port Charles. “What if I was wrong? What if I came here to give you support, ran into Courtney, and lost my damn mind? I was still so angry—” His mouth thinned. “Part of me was happy when I heard Jason broke up with her. He left her for someone else, just like she did to me.”

“AJ—”

“I could have dealt with her leaving me for anyone else, but Jason—” AJ turned. “I stayed away because the last thing you or anyone else in this family needed was the dark sheep getting drunk while you were grieving. I’m sorry for that. That I wasn’t strong enough.”

“I didn’t need you to be here,” Ned said gently, and AJ nodded, staring at the floor. “I learned a long time ago that you weren’t someone I could rely on. I didn’t miss your support, AJ. I’m sorry if that hurts—”

“It does, but I need to hear it. I need to hear how much my family doesn’t need me. Not because it’s their fault,” AJ replied roughly, “but because it’s how I trained them. No one expects better of me. Not anymore.”

“That’s not true,” Ned told him. “I read the reports from New Orleans, didn’t I? I didn’t just bring Carly to you. I came with my own proposal. I didn’t need you last summer, AJ, but I do now. ELQ’s part of my legacy. And yours. It’s part of this family. We need to protect it for everyone who comes after us. Brooke’s gone, but I still have Kristina. You have Michael. Emily will have children, and there’s Jason’s son now. I need to know it’s in good hands so I can do something bigger. You can do this, AJ.”

Brownstone: Kitchen

“If they let him out,” Lucas said, “what do we do? I mean, does Jason have a plan?” he asked Carly.

“I don’t know. I haven’t really talked to him about Sonny.” Carly sipped her coffee. “He’s been with Elizabeth and the baby, and I don’t want this to be his problem right now.”

“That’s all well and good,” Luke said, dropping into the seat next to his nephew. “But it’s not practical.”

“Jason’s got a lot on his mind,” Bobbie said defensively. “His son is in the NICU, and Elizabeth almost died. Not to mention —” She looked at Carly. “I know it’s not what you wanted, but maybe it’s for the best Ric is dead.”

“I know. I know,” she repeated. “I wish we’d known months ago.” God, how different would life be right now if Ric’s body had turned up in November? Would Sonny still be Sonny? Would she have stayed with him?

“Does Sonny know yet?” Luke asked.

“No. Unless Jason told him, and I highly doubt that.” She rubbed the side of her head. Ric was dead. It was over. The nightmare, the terror—it could never happen again.

She was free.

Whatever that meant.

“Who cares what he knows?” Lucas demanded. “It doesn’t change what happened. What Sonny did. He’s crazy, and he’s violent. I don’t want him anywhere near Michael and Morgan.” He paused. “Or you,” he added to Carly, almost as an afterthought.

“It matters because it might go a long way to calming the situation. Sonny went nuclear after Lansing disappeared. Not saying Caroline has to stop the divorce or the adoption situation. I don’t think she should,” Luke said. “But we do want the bullshit to be done and over with. My boy got shot, and I wanna be worried about him. You want be thinking about classes,” he said to Lucas, “and I’m sure Carly would be happy to just go to work and be with her kids.”

“And I want to stop having all this damn security and guards everywhere,” Bobbie muttered. “I feel like we’ve been living in the nightmare that was created last summer, and the fact that Ric being dead doesn’t mean anything is frustrating.”

“But Luke’s right,” Carly said. “Sonny might feel less paranoid about things. I mean, there are other problems that might come up—” Who knows how Sonny would feel when he learned Jason didn’t intend to return power? “—but Ric was the immediate threat that sent him over the edge time and time again.”

The phone on the counter rang, and Bobbie went to answer it. “Hello? One moment—” She pressed the receiver against her chest. “Carly, it’s a doctor from Ferncliffe.”

It was the call Carly had been dreading. Was Sonny being released or—

“Hello? This is Carly Corinthos.”

“Mrs. Corinthos, this is Dr. Lainey Winters—”

Carly listened to the woman for a long moment as the people around her sat in silence. “Okay. Okay, yes, I understand. Yes. Please—contact me when you’re ready to schedule. Thank you.”

She hung up the phone and turned to her family. She gripped the back of her empty chair. “They sedated Sonny the first night, but he continued making threats against Jason and—” She took a deep breath. “Me. And Elizabeth. And he was having hallucinations. Still. Lily, and, um—” Her throat tightened. “He’s still seeing Lily and his mother.”

“Nothing’s changed,” Bobbie murmured. “Same behavior as Friday.”

“Yeah. Um, under the law, the hold can be extended if two doctors sign a certificate stating that Sonny can’t be released because he’s a substantial threat to others. Maybe himself, though she said they don’t think he’s suicidal but that he’s likely to get himself hurt anyway.”

“Sit down, baby—” Bobbie got to her feet and guided Carly into the chair. “Are they keeping him?”

“Yeah. Dr. Collins and Dr. Winters—they signed the paperwork. They’re going to keep him up to sixty days.” She pressed her hands to her face. “Oh, God, Mama. He’s really sick. He’s seeing his mother and Lily, and he has been seeing them for months. That’s what he said that night, do you remember?”

“I do.”

“I didn’t see it. I didn’t know. He was suffering, seeing them, and then not being able to protect us—”

“Carly—” Lucas began, but Luke put a hand up.

“You couldn’t see it, baby, because you were hurting, too,” Bobbie reminded her gently. “And that’s why you had to leave. Because you couldn’t be enough to fix him. And Jason couldn’t see it because he has a family of his own who were hurting. No one, and I mean, no one wanted Sonny so tormented that he was haunted by Lily and his mother. This is not your fault.”

“If he’d gotten help years ago when these dark moods started to take over,” Luke said, “he’d have nipped it in the bud. But Lily’s death snapped something inside of him, and he’s been sliding towards the edge the years.”

“Without diagnosis and treatment, this was always going to happen,” Bobbie told Carly. “This is not on you or Jason. He was never sick enough before to force this. He is now. And he’s going to get help.”

“I need to call Jason. He, uh, he needs to know.”

General Hospital: NICU

Emily’s eyes were wide. “I’m sorry, what did Cody do?”

Elizabeth sighed and winced, readjusting the bottle against Cameron’s mouth. He was having trouble latching this morning, but she was determined to keep trying. “He was the source feeding information to the Zaccharas to set up false Ric sightings.”

Emily sat hard in one of the seats. “But—but he protected you. He seemed so good—”

“Apparently, his excuse was that he was protecting me. From Sonny.” Elizabeth pressed her lips against Cameron’s head. “He wanted to force Sonny out and thought he’d make Jason take action. He didn’t know I was so sick.”

“I guess…there’s a logic to it,” Emily said dubiously. “Jason must be pissed, though. I mean, to have a guy turn that’s so close—”

“That’s the strange thing. He’s not—I mean—he’s upset because of how things unfolded, but he told me I could do what I wanted with Cody. He’s going to talk to him, but it’s up to me if Cody stays as my guard or if he gets fired or whatever.”

“Wait, what? Why?” Emily furrowed her brow. “How can he leave that up to you? I mean, this is the business stuff. The guy betrayed you. Who cares about his motives?”

Elizabeth didn’t answer right away as Nadine came into return Cameron to the incubator. They chatted for a moment about his progress, and then when they were alone again, Elizabeth said, “I think Jason feels guilty. He didn’t do enough about Sonny, and it got to this point. When I think about everything Cody has seen—he heard all the fights Carly and Sonny were having. He knew how Sonny was treating me. And he was there that night in December.”

“The night Carly got locked in her room.”

“He helped break down the door.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “And part of me feels guilty, too. Carly and I set some of this in motion when we wanted a trial—”

“That is not on you! None of this—”

“I’m not saying—” Elizabeth paused, trying to collect her thoughts. “Of course, Carly and I didn’t know what would happen when we turned down that deal. When I asked Jason to let Ric rot in jail. But Jason made us both a promise, and he kept it. Even when it was causing issues with Sonny. That put us on this road. Jason standing by me and Carly against Sonny. And leaving Ric alive made it possible for Anthony Zacchara to kill him and start all of this.”

“But—”

“It’s not my fault, but I also—” She pursed her lips. “I know what Jason’s job is, Em. I’ve always known, and part of me knew that Ric should have had a different ending. It would have been the right way to handle it. And I know Carly only asked for the same thing because Jason had already agreed.”

“You needed it—”

“I did. But I never got it, and I’m okay. Carly—we’re going to get past this. It’ll take longer, and it’s worse now. I’m just trying—I’m trying to do the right thing for Jason this time. Part of me is glad Sonny is out of power. That all of this forced him to get help. And that part of me wants to let Cody stay.”

“But—”

“This kind of thing always gets out. I didn’t think of what leaving Ric alive would do to Jason and Sonny. This is my chance to get it right and to make sure Jason knows that I accept his life. All of it.”

Lucky & Kelsey’s Apartment: Kitchen

Kelsey passed Lucky the bag from Kelly’s and went to get some utensils. “I’m with Cruz — the silver lining of Dante losing his mind is we can buy his cooking.”

Lucky grinned as he removed the top from the bowl of chili, taking in the scent. “Almost smells as good as my Aunt Ruby’s. Maybe he’s found his calling.”

“Maybe. Cruz pointed out it’s better that he’s not wallowing upstairs at Kelly’s anymore. We just need to be patient, I guess.” She unwrapped her own burger and licked the ketchup off her thumb. “How was the doctor?”

“Good, good.” He blew on a spoonful of chili. “I’ll be back on the job next Monday, but I’ll be on desk duty another few weeks. They want me to wait until my ribs aren’t sore. They got cracked during the surgery,” he reminded her. “You okay with that?”

“Not wild about letting you back out there now that you’re one more good cop down,” she admitted, “but that’s just me being antsy. I’m sure you weren’t happy when I went back to work a month after brain surgery—”

“Not sure we can call twenty-three days a month—”

She rolled her eyes. “Semantics.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the file poking out of the bag she had dragged home from work. “Hey, do you remember a cop named David Case?”

Lucky furrowed his brows. “Sounds sort of familiar, but not really. Why?”

“He was around when you were a kid. Retired in 1997. He, um, he worked my dad’s accident.”

Lucky set down his spoon and looked at her. “You looked up your dad’s file? Why?”

She closed her eyes. This was never going to get any easier, no matter how many times she said it. “My dad was murdered, Lucky, and the PCPD covered it up.”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Jason’s Office

He could have given this task to Justus. Could have asked Johnny or Francis or Bernie — or anyone else.

But Jason knew it had to be him. He needed to look Cody in the eye before Elizabeth decided what was going to happen to him. Maybe it hadn’t been fair to leave it up to her, but Cody had betrayed Jason to save her. She’d earned the right to be part of the decision.

He’d stood in the doorway of the NICU room, watching Elizabeth as she fed Cameron, giving up his turn so that she could have more time. Cody was the reason Sonny had lost his damn mind on Friday, but he hadn’t caused Elizabeth to cough up blood. In fact, Cody had saved her life by getting her to the hospital as quickly as he had.

Because Elizabeth had trusted him enough to let him stay inside the penthouse. Just like she had the summer before when she’d nearly died from the embolism.

What the hell was Jason going to do if Elizabeth decided to let him stay on as a guard?

“You wanted to see me?”

Jason got to his feet as Cody stepped into the doorway, his face hesitant. “Yeah. Close the door.”

Cody swallowed hard but did as he was asked, then turned back to face Jason. “You know.”

“Yeah. Justus didn’t tell me,” Jason added, “but the only person who could have set up what happened on Friday knew Sonny was being released.”

His face ashen, Cody nodded. He remained silent.

“I’m sending you to Puerto Rico,” Jason said. The guard blinked. “Not permanently. You’ll work under one of Johnny’s guys at the casino for a while. Elizabeth will decide what happens when she’s ready.”

“I—” Cody swallowed hard. “Can I—can I say one thing?”

“If you’re going to defend yourself,” Jason began, his blood heating up. He might understand why Cody had done it, but it didn’t change how angry Jason was or how much he wanted to smash in the guard’s face.

“No. There is no defense. I just—I never knew Mrs. Morgan was so sick. I never—I would have—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“No, it doesn’t. Get out.”

← Chapter 97 | Chapter 99 →